Pain Is Inevitable; Suffering Is Optional

One morning when I was trying to leave a meditation group, I became agitated because others were “making me late” for another meditation group. I moved swiftly from blaming others to shame at my imagined late entrance and fear that I wouldn’t find a place to sit. These worries, coupled with anxiety about pain in my back and whether I could sit, led to a meltdown.

I rapidly convinced myself that everyone (yes, everyone) would stare at me and shun me forever (yes, forever). I disconnected from the facts. I forgot that these people were my sangha—my community of Buddhist practitioners—and are committed to compassion for all beings (yes, even for me). They weren’t there to judge me, but to hear our teachers. But who needs facts in the middle of a meltdown? I found myself weeping as I drove, conjuring all kinds of judgment about what a bad person I was for falling apart. “And you call yourself a meditator! Tsk, tsk!” said the voice in my mind.

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As I drove along in misery, I somehow remembered I could drop all of these stories. Suddenly the thought arose, clear as a bell: “I am just crying.” That was the simple truth of the situation, the only thing that was actually happening. My relief was immediate and complete. By the time I arrived, I had settled. I blew my nose and entered the hall as the lamas were beginning their talk. I found a seat easily and was greeted warmly by friends sitting nearby.

As usual, all my suffering was for nothing. If more pain had come my way in that moment, fretting about it wouldn’t help. Fretting only disconnects me from my heart and my strength. If no pain had come my way, then fretting would only waste precious time and energy. As Buddhists say, “If you can do something about it, no need to worry. If you can’t do anything about it, no need to worry.”

Creating Suffering

We all experience pain in our lives. Unfortunately, our attempts to manage pain often turn it into suffering instead of relief. Some common ways of creating suffering include:

When we ignore pain, we don’t learn anything and we continually repeat the habits that create suffering.

When we turn pain into our default self-narrative, we can overlook the details of our emotions. We might experience depression or anxiety as a solid, unchanging wall, when in reality it is full of gaps and moments of freedom.

Rejecting our pain leads to suffering when we make an enemy of our experience. Experience is just experience. Rejecting thoughts, feelings and experience is pointless, and deepens the conflict in our lives.

Noticing Pain

Both physical and emotional pain can be effectively managed by looking directly at what is actually happening, without rejecting, clinging to, ignoring, or elaborating. This perspective allows us to notice the true nature of pain: transitory, mutable, and impermanent. It is not solid and ceaseless, and it has no story—despite our attempts to give it one. It appears and then dissolves over time.

It takes an open mind to perceive our situation clearly and accurately. It takes patience to sit and observe without altering, judging, or making assumptions. Remember that we are never alone: any pain or suffering we feel has also been felt by others. There is no one whose life is free from pain, who does not wish to be free of suffering, and who does not deserve compassion. We are all in this together.

Practice sitting quietly a few minutes each day without letting thoughts or feelings run things. Use this time to wish for all beings—including ourselves and the people we find difficult—to be free from suffering. Practice mindfulness. Learn to recognize the stories we generate that create suffering out of pain, and become willing to drop them on the spot.

When we simply rest our minds on pain without aiming to alter our experience, we might notice that pain changes. This can bring great comfort and reassurance. Pain is no more permanent than anything else. Headaches are not solid and unchanging, and neither is depression or fear. Through this practice we can gain confidence in our ability to work with whatever arises in the moment. We don’t need to cover the world with leather to protect our feet. We can simply wear shoes.

One thing is certain: more pain will come our way in this life. It is inevitable. However, it is possible to choose whether we will turn it into suffering or simply leave pain to arise and dissolve on its own. That is always an option.

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Comments

although suffering being completly eliminated may sound a bit too far fetched, even reduction in suffering seems like a great deal because there will be a lot of instances in life where we experience pain or grief and it has its effects until a long time…if there are methods to counter this it is great.

if something wrong has happened,we cannot change it by grieving about it or crying over it…all we can do is to be more careful in the future and look out for situations to be sure that we do not end up losing something more later…this is something that each one of us needs to understand to lead a happier life.